Internal combustion engine



Jan. 29, 1957 w. F. STRADER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15, 1954 INVENTOR- WALTER F. STRADER 9 add:

A T TORNE V Jan. 29, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1954 FIG. 2.

III

Bygma ATTORNEY Jan. 29, 1957 w. F. STRADER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 15, 1954 A 7' TOR/WE) Jan. 29, 1957 w. F. STRADER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March l5 1954 INVENTOR. WALTER F. STRADER A T TORNF Y United States Patent 2,779,318 INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Walter F. Strader, Los Angeles, Calif. Application March 15, 1954, Serial No. 416,04i

1 Claim. (21. 123-13 This invention relates to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to such engines having rotary pistons.

One of the disadvantagespf the present-dayinternal combustion engines is that the pistons are of the reciproeating type. This means that in the course of engine operation each piston must be brought to a complete stop, accelerated to maximum velocity, and then brought to a complete stop again as it reciprocates. This sets an upper limit on acceleration, efficiency, and smoothness of operation which can be achieved with engines of this type.

The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the reciprocating piston type internal combustion engine by providing an internal combustion engine in which the pistons rotate rather than reciprocate.

The invention, in one form, comprises a rotor mounted on a shaft and adapted to fit with a stator to form an annular working cylinder concentrically disposed about the shaft. At least one vane is mounted on the rotor to work as a piston in the cylinder. A plurality of housings are mounted adjacent the working cylinder and open into it. A slotted rotatable disc is disposed in each housing and extends across the working cylinder to divide it into compartments. The slots in the discs are arranged to permit a piston to pass through the slots when the slots are withinthe cylinder. Meansare provided for introducing fuel into the cylinder, and. compartment means is provided for receiving fuel compressed by a piston. Means are also provided for igniting the compressed gas and releasing the ignited fuel into the cylinderbehind a piston, and thereafter removing the ignited fuel from the cylinder.

In a preferred form of the invention, at least two pistons are used and conduit means is provided with a first disc housing for providing a by-passconduit around the disc.

The disc within the first housing serves as a working disc and is provided with a recess to form, in conjunction with the associated housing wall, a passage for intermittently connecting the annular cylinder to the by-pass conduit. A fuel inlet to the cylinder is provided on one side of a blank" disc in' a second disc housing spacedfrom the first housing, and an exhaust outlet from the cylinder is provided on the other side of the blank disc. Means is provided for synchronizing the rotation of the discs with the pistons sothatfuel is drawn into --the annular cylinder by one piston,'compressed against a recess in a working disc and into the by-passconduit by the following piston, ignited, released behind the following piston, and exhausted from the cylinder by the next following piston. I

- Preferably, the discs are mounted to rotate about axes or pistons pass through each disc along the general direc- ICE Also preferred is the use of a by-pass conduit formed by a tube which is detachably mounted to each side of an appropriate disc housing. Means are provided in the by-pass tube for igniting the fuel. Thus, by-pass tubes of various sizes are easily assembled and disassembled from the disc housing. This provides a rapid and inexpensive means for changing the compression ratio of the engine.

These and other aspects of the invention will be more clearly understood in the light of the following detailed explanation taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the invention with normally included cooling fins on the stator not shown;

Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing how cooling fins may be disposed about the stator;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the staggered line 4-4 of Fig 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view partly in section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2, showing the relative position of the rotor and a working disc in the early period of a compression cycle;

Fig. 6 is a section of the same portion of the engine shown in Fig. 5 as appearing at a later" period in the compression cycle;

Fig. 7 is a section of the same portion of the engine shown in Figs. 5 and 6 as appearing at a still later stage of the compression cycle at which the recess in the working disc is just beginning to permit the compressed fuel to enter the bypass conduit;

Fig. 8 is a section of the same portion of the engine shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 as appearing at the final stage of compression of the fuel into the by-pass conduit;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9--9 of Fig. 7 illustrating the relative positions of a vase or piston and compression disc when the vane is approximately onehalf way through the disc slot; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a working disc against which fuel is compressed in the cylinder.

The engine of the present invention can be arranged to gine simultaneously.

Referring to the drawings, the engine is designated generally by the reference character 19. A circular rotor 20 having a concave outer surface 21 is attached to a driving shaft 22 by means ofspokes. or webs 23. The

which are transverse to the rotor shaft; thus, thev'anes tion of the axis of discrotation. With this arrangement the dimension, of eachodisc in thedirection of its axis of rotation iSlGSS than the dimension of the cylinder in the direction of the rotor axis of, rotation; thus maximum use may be made of the volume within the cylinder.

outer edges of the rotor are provided with annular shoulders 24, 25 respectively. A circular stator 28 is concentrically disposed about the rotor and is provided at its edges with annular grooves 26, 27 which respectively accommodate the shoulders 24, 25 of the rotor. The

shoulders and grooves form tongue and groove seals which seal an annular cylinder 30 formed between the stator and the rotor. The stator may be attached by any suitable means to the frame of the unit (not shown) served by, the engine. i

The stator is conviently formed in two halves 31, 32 which are held together by conventional means, such as bolts 33 extending through matching lugs 34 on the stator exterior. Cooling fins 35 (shown only in Fig. 3) are attached to the stator exterior. Althoughthe illustrated embodiment of the invention employs an air-cooling systern, any suitable, ,conventionahcooling means may be used.

A forward end ring or spider 36 is attached to the front of the stator by means of. bolts 37, and has inwardly extending radial arms 38 which support a journal 4%! having an internal bearing 42. The bearing 42 supports the forward end of the driving shaft. The forward end of the driving shaft is provided with an internal bore '44 and an annular flange 46 adapted to provide a power take off from the engine. A rear end ring or spider 43 is attached to the rear of the stator by of bolts and has inwardly extending radial arms 52 which support a hub 5 having an internal bearing S. The bearing 56 supports the rear end of the driving shaft.

The driving shaft is provided with an internal bore 58 which communicates with bores 59 and 6% within the shaft to lubricate the bearings 42, 56, respectively. The internal bore 58 also supplies lubricant to the tongue and groo e seals between the rotor and the stator by means of bores 62 and 64 in the rotor periphery which are connected to bore 58 by means of bores 66 and 68 in the spokes 23. Four slots 7d, 71, 72;, '73 extending in the direction of the driving shaft are provided in the stator periphery at equally spaced intervals. Upright walls 74, 74A, 74B, 74C are respectively provided around these slots to which semi-circular covers 7''], 77A, 77B, 77C are respectively attached. Discs 8t), 31, 82, $3 respectively are rotatably mounted within the housings thus formed.

Each. disc extends into and across the annular cylinder formed between the stator and the rotor and divides the cylinder into four compartments 84, 85, 86, 87 by sealing against the rotor periphery, the respective edges of the slots in the stator and with the inner walls of the associated disc housings.

Fuel or gas inlets 88, 88A are provided in the stator in compartments 84, $6 respectively near discs 81, 83, which serve as blank discs, and exhaust outlets 89, 89A are provided in compartments 85, respectively near the blank discs.

The discs 8d, 81, 82, 33 are mounted on shafts 90, 90A, 903, 911C, respectively, the shafts being journalled in bearings S 1, 5 2 formed between the wall surrounding each stator slot and the matching wall of each associated disc housing. Disc bevel gears 93, 93A, 93B, 93C are respectively attached to one end of disc shafts 90, 99A, 90B, 99C. Each disc bevel gear is respectively driven by associated matching gears 94, 94A, 94B, 94C respectively attached to one end of synchronizing shafts 95, 95A, 95B, 95C which extend rearwardly to the driving shaft. Bevel gears as, 96A, 9613, %C are respectively attached to the rear end of synchronizing shafts 95, 95A, 95B, 95C,

and are driven by a common helical bevel gear 97 keyed 'on the driving shaft near its rear end.

A spur gear 98 is keyed to theend of the rotor shaft and drives two pinion gears 99, 160 connected to a timer 101 and an oil pump 102, respectively, by conventional means (not shown). All of the gears located at the rear end of the rotor shaft are covered by a gear box 164' that is secured by means of bolts (not shown) to an means (not shown). 1

Each disc is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed radial slots 11%. Four pistons or vanes 111, 112, 113, 114 are attached to the rotor periphery and are adapted to work in the cylinder formed between the stator and the rotor. Thepistons extend diagonally across the rotor periphery and are shaped so that their respective edges make a sliding seal with the stator interior. Each piston has warped side surfaces best illustrated in Fig. 9 so that the pistons are adapted to pass through theslots in the discs when the slots are within the cylinder. vEach disc slot is shaped to seal with the pismeans (not shown).

4 tons as they successively pass through the respective slots (see Figs. 9 and 10).

Discs and 82 serve as working discs and each is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed recesses 116, 117, and 118, 119 on each side of the disc. The pistons compress fuel against one side (the compression side) of each working disc, and ignited fuel expands against the other side (expansion side) of each working disc. Each recess on the compression side of the disc has its trailing end close to its corresponding slot in the disc so that substantially all of the compressed fuel is forced into the recess before the recess moves out of the cylinder upon disc rotation. Each of the housings enclosing a working disc is provided with an external tube 121 which interconnects the interior of the housing on each side of the disc to form a bypass conduit around the working discs.

A spark plug 120 is disposed in each of the by-pass conduits for igniting the compressed fuel. The plugs are operated by the timer which controls conventional ignition A carburetor 123 is connected to a fuel supply (not shown)'and provides a combustible mixture of fuel and air to the fuel inlets.

The operation of the engine can be understood most clearly with reference to Figs. 2 and 5 through 9, which show the piston 111 compressing fuel against the working disc 30, passing through the disc, and being pushed away from the disc by the expansion of the compressed fuel ignited in the by-pass tube. The direction of rotation of the discs and the rotor are as indicated by the arrows on the drawings.

The piston 114 preceding the piston 111, draws fuel from the carburetor into the cylinder through the gas inlet 88. The piston 111 compresses the gas mixture against the compression side of the working disc 30. As the piston 111 approaches the working disc, the slot moves into the annular cylinder and the leading edge of the piston starts through the slot without permitting the compressed fuel to leak through the slot. As the piston passes through the slot the fuel is forced into the recess 116 which has now moved to the position shown in Figs. 7 and 8 to allow the compressed fuel to flow into the by-pass conduit 121 where it is ignited by the spark plug. The recess 116'moves out of the cylinder and the ignited and expanding fuel is forced through the tube around to the other sidefof the disc and is admitted into the cylinder through recess 118 behind the piston 111 which is now almost through the slot (see Fig. 8). The ignited fuel pushes the piston around for the next cycle. The next following piston 112 that passes through the working disc slot forces the burned and expanded fuel from the cylinder and 'out the exhaust port in the stator adjacent the'blank disc 83.

Thus with four pistons, two working discs, and two blank discs, eight power strokes are developed for each stroke is developed for each revolution of the shaft. In

addition, the relative sizes and positions, of the recesses on opposite sides of the working discs can be varied over a wide range to adjust the'timing of interconnecting of the compartment'sadjacent the working discs as desired.

One of the advantages of the engine is that the pistons are moving at a considerable speed at the time of ignition of the fuel. This is in direct contrast to an engine of the reciprocating .piston type in which the piston is moving at a relatively slow velocity at the time of ignition.

Thus the engine of this invention will deliver a smoother and more powerful force to the piston and reduce the tendency to knock, permitting the use of relatively cheap fuels at :a high efficiency.

Although'the working discs are shown as being provided with a pair of recesses on each side of the disc faces, the engine can also be operated with a pair of re cesses formed on only one disc face, the by-pass tube being open to the cylinder on the other side of the disc continuously by connecting it directly to the stator near the working disc. Likewise, only one slot need be provided in the disc and only one recess need be associated with it; however, this would require that the disc rotate twice as fast as when two slots and two recesses are used.

Although the present invention has been illustrated us ing two working discs and two blank discs, any convenient number of such discs can be used to provide the desired number of compartments within the cylinder. In addition, one or more engines of this type can be tangentially mounted so that each disc can serve the cylinders of two engines simultaneously.

I claim:

In an internal combustion engine, the combination comprising a rotatable shaft, a rotor mounted on the shaft, a stator disposed around the shaft to form with the rotor an annular cylinder, at least one piston mounted on the rotor to work in the cylinder, at least two discs housings adjacent the cylinder and communicating therewith, a separate rotatable disc mounted in each housing to traverse the cylinder and divide it into compartments, each disc having an opening arranged to permit the passage of a piston therethrough when the said opening is within the cylinder, a detachable tube mounted on the exterior of a first disc housing for providing a by-pass conduit around the disc within the first housing, the disc in the first housing having a recess to provide, in conjunction with the associated housing wall, a passage for intermittently con necting the cylinder to the by-pass conduit, a fuel inlet to the cylinder on one side of the disc in :a second housing, an exhaust outlet from the cylinder on the other side of the disc in the second housing, means for igniting the fuel in the by-pass condiut, and means for synchronizing the rotation of the discs with the pistons whereby fuel is drawn into the cylinder by one piston, compressed against a recessed disc and into the by-pass conduit by a following piston, burned, released behind the following piston, and finally exhausted from the cylinder by the next following piston.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,010,797 Archbold et a1. Aug. 6, 1935 2,273,625 Concannon Feb. 17, 1942 2,651,177 Pridham Sept. 8, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,431 Great Britain Feb. 11, 1909 

